After emerging as one of the early transfer sagas of the summer, Leeds United full-back Charlie Taylor has finally departed the club on a free, linking up with Premier League Burnley ahead of the new campaign.

Leeds had offered their academy graduate improved terms, and being under 24, Burnley will have to cough up a fee for the 23- year-old defender at a tribunal which will take place in the next few months.

New boss Thomas Christiansen will have planned for life without the want-away youngster, and fans will be both disappointed and relieved that Taylor has left the club.

It is a shame to see a local born youngster play hardball with the club that has nurtured him for so many years, but with the ambition to play in the Premier League, Taylor cannot be begrudged for furthering his horizons.

Leeds fans will hope to have the last laugh and catch up with their former man in the top flight next season, but Christiansen must first replace the man who had impressed so greatly in previous campaigns.

One man the manager may turn to is Bristol City’s Joe Bryan, who emerged as one of the most consistent performers at Ashton Gate last season.

The 23-year-old has been with the club since youth level, but like Taylor, will harbour ambitions of playing at a higher level.

Leeds will enter the new campaign with dreams of promotion, and a play-off place will be the minimum expectation for the Whites.

Bryan would be an excellent addition to this ambitious squad, and Leeds would do well to invest the money the receive from Taylor’s tribunal in a young full-back who has the potential to be even better than the new Burnley man.

Whether Bryan would chose to leave his boyhood club remains to be seen, but if Leeds want to go up, they must target players of Bryan’s ability.